It seems that Jehovah's witnesses living in Bulgaria are free of any punishment if they get blood transfusions, fractions or whole blood. Since when did God's law vary depending on country you live in? Why don't they also not disfellowship people everywhere else for getting blood transfusions just to make it fair? Bulgaria blood: http://www.ajwrb.org/basics/abandon.shtml “If a baptized member of the faith willfully and without regret accepts a blood transfusion, he indicates by his own actions that he no longer wishes to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. The individual is no longer viewed as a member of the Christian congregation because he no longer accepts and follows the Biblical prohibition to abstain from blood.â€â€”(Watchtower letter to All Hospital Liaison Committee Members, dated June 16, 2000) And what's with their 'Fractions' doctrine. They can't have whole blood but can have fractions of it? What kind of sense does this make? How do they know what constitutes full blood? Why are they letting their kids die with such flip flops and senseless doctrines that even the Watchtower leaders bend to satisfy the Bulgarian government? Didn't witnesses gladly go to jail before to fight for their beliefs? Why did they stop now? Did the higher ups not want to go to Jail to keep up their right to disfellowship people for this? It seems it's okay to when their 'members' go to jail for their doctrines, but when the tables turn to the higher up doctrine makers, they don't want no trouble!
Religion & Spirituality - 8 Answers
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1 :
Sure, why not? I've been to Greece, Turkey, and England. But I've never been to Bulgaria. Can you recommend a good hotel and restaurant?
2 :
Either English is not your first language , or you were under the influence of something potent when typing your "question" , Milton !! If you scrutinize what you`ve said here , you`ll find you`ve contradicted yourself to the point your question makes NO sense !!
3 :
fraction doctrines? Huh? You mean that fractions are not allowed? what if i need a 1/4 cup of sugar?
4 :
Not a single honest straightforward answer from the Witnesses Yes In Bulgaria Witnesses can have blood transfusions with Jehovah's approval Bulgaria, the Watchtower and Blood Transfusions The situation regarding Bulgaria, the Watchtower Society and blood transfusions demonstrates that the Watchtower is prepared to bend the truth in furthering its own political needs. It is hard to reconcile how Watchtower actions before the European Commission on Human Rights could be construed as anything other than perjury. On June 28, 1994, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers refused to renew the Watchtower’s registration as a religion.[1] The two main issues behind this decision were Watchtower doctrine forbidding: 1. Witnesses to participate in military service 2. Witnesses and their children to receive blood transfusions A four-year legal battle ensued, resulting in compromise on both sides. The Watchtower Society and government of Bulgaria brokered an agreement through the European Commission of Human Rights that was adopted on March 9th 1998 under Application No. 28626/95. This states in part: 16. By letters of 8 and 12 September 1997 the parties indicated their willingness to reach a friendly settlement. The parties exchanged correspondence and proposals for a friendly settlement and held meetings in Sofia on 20 and 21 November 1997. On 17 January 1998, upon the parties' request, the Commission made proposals to the parties with a view to resolving some remaining differences in their positions. The parties again met in Sofia on 10 February 1998. 17. By letters of 10 and 11 February 1998 the parties informed the Commission of the final text of the friendly settlement. Click here to read the full document The Watchtower reached a “friendly settlement†by indicating a change to its rules regarding blood transfusions and military service. In order to accommodate the wishes of the Watchtower Society, the Bulgarian government created a non-combative military service option for conscientious objectors to participate in. If only it were that simple. Scratch beneath the surface and a raft of issues become apparent, highlighting the Watchtower’s willingness for deception in what is an example of “theocratic warfareâ€. “It is proper to cover over our arrangements for the work that God commands us to do. If the wolfish foes draw wrong conclusions from our maneuvers to outwit them, no harm has been done to them by the harmless sheep, innocent in their motives as doves.†Watchtower 1956 Feb 1 p.86
5 :
There is NO such change in the Jehovah's Witness stand on blood. It is NO different in Bulgaria than it is anywhere else in the world. Your claim is a lie.
6 :
Greetings, Witnesses are taught the same thing everywhere and they have the same scriptural requirements regarding “abstaining from blood†everywhere. They have always been taught exactly what the Bible states: that someone who willfully, unrepentantly continues to reject God's laws they have rejected Christianity and are no longer to be considered part of the Christian Congregation. Those who say that Witnesses are allowed to accept blood transfusions in Bulgaria are blindly repeating a misrepresentation. In the Official statement by the WTS has plainly said: "There is no doctrinal change on the use of blood." The agreement was simply that it was a personal choice to accept or refuse blood which has ALWAYS been true. While Witnesses do all they can to avoid conflict with individual countries' laws, they never stop abiding by God's instructions. The Scriptural law is to "remove" from spiritual fellowship anyone who rejects Christianity. In Bulgaria Witnesses made a procedural change in how this was done. To emphasize the fact that someone who unrepentantly accepts blood has themselves chosen to no longer be a Witness we do not use the term “disfellowship.†Rather we note that *they* have “disassociated†themselves from the Christian community. This is actually an accurate description of what has always been the case. In fact, Alain Garay, Avocat a la cour, who was part of the negotiating team confirmed that "it was accepted by all sides that the agreement reflected the normal practice within the Jehovah's Witness religion around the world" While we have at times changed *how* we obey the Scriptural mandate to “remove from fellowship†willful sinners, the end result is the same. So, the choice to willingly accept a blood transfusion is a choice to no longer be a Witness. The prohibition on blood use is a Scriptural doctrine and will never be changed for Christians. Yours, BAR-ANERGES EDIT: Marvin’s claim about there being contradictions in Witnesses’ doctrine is simply *his* personal opinion. His view regarding blood fractions has nothing to do with Witnesses' doctrines. It is just a distractive issue because such critics know that they cannot disprove our scriptural doctrines. Criticizing individual Witnesses' decisions on blood fractions and the Watchtower's allowance of those decisions of conscience is a vain attempt to find some inconsistency in Witnesses' doctrine. However, the variability of individual beliefs and choices regarding fractions provides no reason to doubt Christian doctrine. Apparent inconsistencies in the various choices allowed are simply the natural result of individuals having the freedom to make decisions of conscience. And any apparent inconsistencies are only the result of improper reasoning and illogical arguments by opposers who confuse scientific perceptions with moral discernment. EDIT 2: Using faulty and misleading information, enemies of Witnesses claim that "thousands" have supposedly died because of refusing blood, yet how does this compare to the millions who have died from being given blood in the same period of time?! The facts show that there is absolutely no proof that anyone has ever died because of refusing blood. One doctor by the name of Shadman said: "In performing upwards of 20,000 surgical operations, I never gave a blood transfusion and never had a patient die from lack of it..." Over thirty years ago the book "Complications in Surgery Management" stated: "In terms of disability and loss of life...blood transfusions rival some of our major health problems." "The bloodletting of yore has been superseded by blood transfusion. Of all the ridiculous medical practices of the past and present times, this present blood craze is the worst." - -Dr. G. Boni and Dr. P.Lafarge, "Let's Live", March 1970 "If blood was a new drug it wouldn't receive a product licence."--Tom Lennard, Royal Victoria Infirmary Dr. J. Brian McSheffrey, medical director of a regional blood transfusion service, testified that he draws attention to the problem by saying in lectures: "If you have to give a transfusion, you've either failed in diagnosis or failed in therapy." According to the proven facts, it should be considered child abuse for anyone to allow their children to receive such a dangerous procedure!
7 :
Watchtower’s blood doctrine is imposed on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Bulgaria the same as it is everywhere else. I recognize many Watchtower detractors would insist that is not the case based on documents specific to Watchtower–Bulgarian relations, which documents I am very familiar with since they were initially filed. But as of year 2000 there is no difference at all. As of year 2000 Watchtower’s purely procedural policy shift from actively disfellowshipping to passively announcing disassociation of Witnesses for conscientious acceptance of blood transfusion that was applicable to Bulgaria has been applied universally. To be sure there are serious ambiguities, inconsistencies and outright contradictions found in or related to Watchtower’s blood doctrine, but this Bulgarian thing is not one of them. Marvin Shilmer ___________ References: -- European Commission of Human Rights, Khristiansko Sdruzhenie "Svideteli na Iehova" against Bulgaria, Application No. 28626/95 Part II, 17, II, 2.1, adopted March 9, 1998, -- Watchtower letter to All Hospital Liaison Committee Members, dated June 16, 2000
8 :
From what I understand about the Jehovah's Witnesses, the ones who are outside of Bulgaria and who go to this country for blood transfusion will still have to face the fear of returning to their country of residence or to their Kingdom Hall and get disfellowshiped. They will have to stay in Bulgaria, learn the language, live and work there for the rest of their lives but still face a milder penalty like disassociation rather than disfellowshipment! So there is not much for the JWs of the Org to look forward to either way, they will have to give up their strict doctrine and their religion to proceed with that blood transfusion whether in the country of residence or in Bulgaria in order to get the *proper* treatment!
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